“Playing for Hawke’s Bay in the Christie Cup defences against Manawatū and Whanganui was a good warm-up for the open, too.”
Paunovic moved to Havelock North with her family from Croatia seven years ago. She started playing tennis in Croatia at the age of 5.
A left-hander, Paunovic, ranks her backhand and forehand cross-court shots as her strengths. She has played in numerous national age-group tournaments, and this week’s Hawke’s Bay Junior Open was her fourth.
In March, she will travel to Australia to begin a tennis exchange on the Gold Coast.
The five-day Hawke’s Bay Junior Open tournament, which was played at the Hawke’s Bay Lawn and Greendale clubs, attracted 165 players, including some from Australia and the United States. Numerous players competed in two age groups and 552 matches were played.
Results from finals involving HB players:
10-and-under boys’ singles: Frank T Zhang (United States) 1; Bruno Reed (Hawke’s Bay) 2.
10-and-under girls’ singles: Lina Dimitrijoska (New Zealand) 1; Hannah Wedd (Hawke’s Bay) 2.
14-and-under girls’ singles: Sophie Wedd (Hawke’s Bay) 1; Sophia Morris (Hawke’s Bay) 2.
15-and-over girls’ singles: Franka Paunovic (Hawke’s Bay) 1; Belle Kinnear (Hawke’s Bay) 2.
14-and-under mixed doubles: Nicolai O’Dowd and Sophie Wedd (Hawke’s Bay) 1; Blake Botham and Sarah Jennings (both New Zealand) 2.
16-and-under mixed doubles: O’Dowd and Sophie Wedd (Hawke’s Bay) 1; Fraser Waugh and Lily Williams (New Zealand) 2.
10-and-under boys’ doubles: Zhang and William White (New Zealand) 1; Reed and Fergus Wu (New Zealand) 2.
16-and-under boys’ doubles: Waugh and Eziah Paulsen (Hawke’s Bay) 1; Mayank Giri (Hawke’s Bay) and Lucas Surjo (New Zealand) 2.
10-and-under girls’ doubles: Hannah Wedd and Molly Nicoll (both Hawke’s Bay) 1; Vanisha Giri (Hawke’s Bay) and Dimitrijoska 2.
12-and-under girls’ doubles: Arabella Absolom (Hawke’s Bay) and Katie Yao (New Zealand) 1; Hannah Wedd and Maisy Shennan (New Zealand) 2.
14-and-under girls’ doubles: Morris and Sophie Wedd (both Hawke’s Bay) 1; Lucy Wilson and Sarah Jennings (both New Zealand) 2.
16-and-under girls’ doubles: Paunovic and Lily Smith (New Zealand) 1; Morris and Zoe Kight (New Zealand) 2.
15-and-over girls’ doubles: Paunovic and Kinnear 1; Mansi Giri (Hawke’s Bay) and Amelia Nolan (Australia) 2.
Open doubles: Mansi Giri and Kinnear 1; Kyle Burgess and Angus Pearce (both Australia) 2.